Former UFC featherweight legend Jose Aldo is continuing to forge a new path at bantamweight, and two straight wins over Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz have him on the right track. It’s unclear what the near future holds for Aldo, but he told MMA Fighting that while maybe he went a little too early, too fast when he dropped to 135, he’s still looking to get back to a title shot. And the way to do that is to fight T.J. Dillashaw:
“Dillashaw is the focus,” he continued. “If it’s early next year, I can wait too. I’ll leave that up to ‘Dede’ [coach Andre Pederneiras] to deal with. I want to fight by December or January, tops. With another great fight and win, we can get closer to the belt.”
One thing he does not want to, however is fight another former champ in Dominick Cruz:
“I heard some reporters talking about this fight [with Cruz] but I think we’re both going different directions,” Aldo said. “He’s more dedicated to [UFC] broadcasts than his own fighting career. I don’t think about fighting Dominick today. I respect him, I also like him for the fact he’s one of the greatest bantamweight champions, but right now I’m heading towards the title. There’s no reason why I’ll stop and do a fight that will take me nowhere. It’s more likely for me to fight Rob Font than Dominick Cruz.”
Dillashaw currently sits as number two contender in the division, and will wait to see what happens in the rematch between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling on October 30th. Aldo currently sits in the five spot, which Cruz is number ten.
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